First hotpot party in apt

The unpacking continues. We are one box away from done with the kitchen. Luis bought his desk and relinquished control of the dining room table. Closet is still undone. Everything is coming along.

Went to the dog park in the morning and found the weather to be quite warm. I decided that it was warm enough to make bread. The whole process did not take long at all, and in almost no time at all, we had delicious warm bread with thin crispy crust.

G then treated us to hotpot for dinner and it was soooo filling that all I want to do is close my eyes and sleep...

...until I was mesmerized by this from BakingMum. Everything looked incredibly delicious. It also comes with recipes for the more Chinese foods. Will have to make a list of things to try later. Sometime in the near future: SPONGE CAKE!

Dinner: Pork with cole slaw & cream of mushroom soup

Cream of mushroom soup
4 servings

1 lb of mushrooms, thinly sliced with stalks removed
1/4 cup margarine
3-4 green onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/3 c flour
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of light cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt half of the margarine and stir in green onions, garlic, and thyme. Cook until garlic is golden.
2. + mushrooms, a little bit of salt and pepper, cook till the mushroom flavor is brought out.
3. In a separate pot, using the rest of the butter, flour, and broth create a roux.
4. Add to the mushrooms and simmer for ~10 min.
5. Add cream and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Finish with salt and pepper to taste.

Variations to try: tarragon instead of thyme. white mirepoix (1 stalk of celery, the whites of one leek, 1/2 of an onion) cooked in step 1, + lemon juice in the last step (~1 tsp)